One of these days things will slow down.

August 2011 is officially nearing it's end. It has felt like a lifetime, and yet, a quick moment at the same time. It never ceases to amaze me how that can happen. Throughout the month, in my complete exhaustion, I felt it would never end. Closing Night for Oz felt like months or years away. Rhianna's dance camp that lasted every night of the first two weeks of August felt like it happened 3 months ago. But, when Closing Night was finally upon us, I was sad. Why did it have to come and go so quickly? Why did the journey have to be over so soon? I felt like I hadn't had the chance to truly enjoy it yet. The last show was incredible. Tiernan really grew into his characters as the weeks passed, and we were blown away. The whole cast was even more amazing than Opening Night and I found myself getting more than a little weepy on multiple occasions. At the end, when the entire room stood up at the very start of the final bow, I had to choke back real tears. As we waited around the back of the theatre for all the munchkins, we parents agreed that it felt like a minute, and a year. We all agreed that we were looking forward to the week of down time before school starts up again, but that it was sad to say farewell to Oz, and all the people who helped make it such a magical experience.

I waited a bit anxiously for my boy to come out for the last time. Would he feel sad and disappointed that it was over? But the minute I saw him trip up the stairs (literally!) from the dressing room and I saw the sparkle in his eyes, my heart was at ease again. He was so completely happy. He came out of there hooting and hollering, saying that this experience he had just lived through was incredible! He ran into the green room to say goodbye to the professional actors and the wonderful behind the scenes crew. He danced up and down the streets with such a lightness about him. He felt on top of the world! I am so proud of this Tiernan-guy of mine. ♥

My poor blog has been quite ignored this summer. I feel so neglectful. I'm sure things will become much more regular once our September routine rolls around. I worked Friday straight through to Tuesday, so Kyle was left to make dinner for us on Saturday and Sunday. My folks took it upon themselves to make a delicious veggie lasagna and a crazy fresh garden salad with apple crisp for dessert for Monday. Saturday was closing night, so it was an easy dinner of caesar salad and grilled cheese with smoked maple tempeh bacon. Sunday my husband made a very yummy Fiorentina Baked Pasta from 101 Vegetarian Dishes that I had been dying to try. He had it ready for when I got home (talk about role reversal!) and I appreciated it so much! That night we had our Date Night In with some sinful Mushroom Canapes (which started out from Simply Appetizers, but I changed a fair bit) and more episodes of LOST. We are so predictable! :) Tonight I made a Pesto Pasta Bake from Half Baked Gourmet Pasta that was unbelievably good! So good I ate two helpings.

Fiorentina Baked Pasta

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper, to taste

10 oz spinach and cheese dip (we used a simple recipe - to follow)

1 cup milk

3 oz parmesan cheese, grated

10 oz orzo pasta

Heat oven to 350.

Heat oil in a wok and add the mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Season with salt and pepper, and place in a shallow ovenproof dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Mix spinach dip, milk, half the parmesan cheese and the pasta in a bowl. Stir and season with pepper. Pour over the mushrooms in the container. Top with the remaining parmesan cheese.

Bake 45 minutes until pasta is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.

Spinach Dip

(leaves lots left over for snacking)

10 oz package of chopped frozen spinach, thawed

16 oz sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

1 package of Knorr vegetable soup mix

Mix it all together, and chill for a few hours.

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Mushroom Canapes

30 cremini mushrooms, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

white pepper, to taste

1/2 cup asiago cheese, grated

butter crackers (we used Ritz)

Saute the mushrooms in oil until tender and liquid has cooked off. Put them in a bowl and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and serve warm.

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Pesto Pasta Bake

1 large bag of rigatoni (900 g)

1 batch of Jill's super fabulous yummy pesto sauce

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 ball of fresh mozzarella, diced in small cubes (important to use the good stuff!)

2 cups parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350.

First make a batch of pesto.

Cook rigatoni according to package directions, until al dente. Drain well and place pasta in a large lasagna pan.

In a separate bowl, mix together the pesto, whipping cream, salt, and pepper until well combine. Pour over the pasta and stir well. Top with the fresh mozza and parmesan cheeses.

Bake 10-15 minutes until brown and bubbling. I broiled mine for a couple of minutes to brown.

Today was bad, but the salad and dancing was great!

Today was a horrible, terrible, awful, bad day! Seriously. Very! I was late taking Tiernan to his matinee and late picking him up. I have NO CLUE how that happened because I am one of those organized-everything-written-down kind of people. That said, if I am dragging my husband along, I tend to be late. It runs in his family! The curse! And if it's important.. not usually late. This play? Hadn't been rushed once! Until today. I could die of embarrassment. For real. If it was possible, I likely would.

Moving on... most of the day sucked. BUT! Tonight we headed out to Marmora for Classic Cruisers. A group of the girls who dance at Angela Maracle Studios put on a beautiful dance parade. I loved it! Nothing beats a poodle skirt! ;) I have a load of photos to upload to Facebook, but for now here are a couple of my girl.

♥

Showing off her Russian! :)

Dinner was on the go tonight. We had pretty much zero time to sit and have dinner, so I made some chickpea salad sandwiches (with some Guyanese curry instead of the dill, and the beans more pureed with a bit more mayo) on the softest onion buns and a delicious salad that I threw together. We ate it in the van on our hour long ride to Marmora. Fun. At least the scenery was pretty! Tiernan ate the salad and sandwich at the house of some friends of ours - huge thanks to them for letting him hang out and getting him to Oz on time for the first time today! :P

Craisin-Almond-Feta Salad

4-5 cups baby spinach

1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted for 5-7 minutes in the oven

1/2 cup craisins

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 thinly sliced red onion

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

4 tsp honey

1 tsp coarse Dijon mustard

salt and pepper, to taste

Mix the vegetables, craisins, almonds, and cheese in a bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix together the vinegar, oil, honey, mustard and salt & pepper. Combine well. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss well to coat.

Garden Burgers, Family Love and Exhaustion.

My brother and sister-in-law came for a visit this week, and it was fantastic. We enjoyed a meal of miso-ginger-coconut stir fry with a side of teriyaki tofu and cinnamon buns for dessert. I went with the meal because it's a family favourite in this house. Unfortunately, you should never just double the recipe for the stir fry. It wasn't nearly as good as "normal". Oh well, everyone still gobbled it up, so no big deal. :)

Having family or friends out here is always so wonderful, but once they leave we're always left feeling like Canada is just too darn big! We enjoy the company while they're here though. It worked out timing wise because they were able to come to Avery's very last soccer game in his tournament, went to go see Tiernan in Oz at the Empire, and even got to have Rhianna perform her Classic Cruisers dance in our living room. :)

Check out the beautiful double rainbow we spotted one night while the kids were bike riding! ♥

I finally made something new for dinner tonight! This is a huge shocker! We've been surviving on quick foods this week. August is starting to really kick my arse. I'm so very tired. I hate admitting to that, but it's true. I'm only human after all! There has been so much shuffling of kids to and from theatres, dance studios, play dates and soccer games. There have been so many little errands to run to buy things for performances and the beginning of the school year. I think I'm finally finished on both counts! This weekend coming up I work Friday evening, Saturday all day (followed by the closing show for Oz!), all day Sunday, and all day Monday. Not to mention the five more Oz shows and the Classic Cruisers performance in Marmora. Next week I plan to take a day to do nothing. At all. If you stop by, expect pjs. Actually, consider yourself lucky if I even answer the door. Haha!

Anyway, back to tonight's dinner. I made some yummy Garden Burgers from Quinoa 365 The Everyday Superfood (and really didn't change much at all), yam fries, veggies with dip and Rainier cherries (best cherries in the world!). I made the entire dinner while talking to Laura on the phone, too. I've got skillz! ;)

Garden Burgers

1/4 cup quinoa

1/4 cup lentils (I used green)

1 1/2 cups water

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/2 - 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

19 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup finely diced celery

3/4 cup finely diced onion

1 cup finely diced bell pepper (I used orange)

1/4 tsp black pepper

Put the water, quinoa and lentils in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook 20-23 minutes until the lentils and quinoa are tender. Remove from heat.

Mix together the lentils, quinoa, walnuts, bread crumbs, chickpeas, celery, onion, bell pepper and black pepper. Mash lightly. Add more bread crumbs and a bit of water until it becomes easier to form into patties. Put the patties on a plate, and chill for 1/2 hour.

Cook on a pre-heated indoor grill until they start to brown and are heated through.

It can't really be August 20th, can it?

Any times in the past that I've said I was busy... yeah.. ignore those. August is very, very, very busy this year! Between dance and Oz and soccer and work and visits .. I don't know if I'm coming or going anymore. In fact, I'm attempting to get this blog finished within 15 minutes so I can go pick Tiernan up from his second play today. Due to this crazy tornado of a month, we've been eating a lot of dinners that I've already blogged about. Like portobello mushroom pasta, veggie lasagna, taco dip, creamy asparagus pasta, caesar salad, (curried) chickpea salad sandwhiches, paninis and simple things like poutine and veggies and dip. You know - all the things I can make with my eyes closed. I do have a couple of super simple recipes to share, as well as one idea rather than recipe.

First though! Photos of some of our latest adventures.

Opening night of The Wizard of Oz at the Empire Theatre has come and passed! The show (which we attended) was fan-freaking-tastic! The cast - both professional and young company played their hearts out. The costumes, the singing, the story - all of it was amazing. The girl who plays Dorothy (Emma) is a friend of ours, and she is one talented young lady! She could knock your socks off with her triple threat talent - singing, dancing and acting. If you're in the area, please go to the show. There are still shows Sunday the 21st until Saturday the 27th with the exclusion of Monday the 22nd. Some days there are both the matinee and evening show, so check the website out and buy your tickets! It's so worth it.

On opening night we picked up some sunflowers (we have always called him our Sunshine) and a Wizard of Oz book to give to our little thespian. He also got a lollipop from one of the wonderful women who looks after all these munchkins. It was so thoughtful - a lollipop for the boys in the Lollipop Guild! I love it. Tiernan was adorable up on that stage as a munchkin, creepy as can be as a flying monkey and so graceful as snow. He did so well! We are incredibly proud of him - more than ever!

On the second day of Oz my sister Carole and her kids came into town to watch the play and then came over for dinner. What better place for the kids to eat than on the floor, picnic style? :)

The next day we held our tradition of a Pizza Pool Party at the hotel. The best part? They stayed at our hotel, the Best Western. We lived in that hotel for a month when we first moved here and it still feels like home to us. The smells from the cleaner. The perfect swimming pool - warm, not too deep, big floor to ceiling windows to let the light in. The breakfast/dining room that had the microwave we needed to use daily. I still remember warming my tea up there after getting the kids to school and then curling up in the big comfy bed in our suite watching MTV shows while I got over H1N1. I loved that hotel! If it hadn't cost that much to stay I might never have left. ;) I just wish our favourite girl had been working at the desk that day! I saw her leaving just as we were pulling in. She was awesome!

Hot tub!

All the cousins - best friends, always! These kids are so very close. It's an amazing thing to witness! (Their faces look a bit sad, but that's because it was time to say farewell.)

And now for the few food items I wanted to blog about. One is the Thai Chick-Un Pizza from Eat Drink & Be Vegan (very scrumptious!), one is some herbed buttermilk biscuits (very comforting!) and the other is english muffin pizzas (easy and great for snacks or school lunches!). Sometime I will blog the two different beer-y pizza crusts Kyle made in our bread maker (that we got from my Dad - thank you!). Right now is not the time, though! It's time for Lost.

Thai Chick-Un Pizza

Thai Sauce:

2/3 cup natural peanut butter

1/3 cup ketchup

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, quartered

1 1/2 tbsp fresh chopped ginger

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup light coconut milk

1-2 tbsp water

1 1/2 - 2 tsp agave nectar

toppings:

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

3/4 cup pineapple chunks

1/2 cup bean sprouts

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Spread the sauce over your pizza shell. In a bowl, lightly flatten the chickpeas. Sprinkle them over the crust. Add the bell pepper and pineapple over the crust as well. Bake 17-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the bean sprouts.

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Buttermilk Herbed Biscuits

2 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 salt

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp dill

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in one bowl. Cut in the butter and mix until crumbly. Add the buttermilk and mix well. Knead for a few minutes on a floured surface. Roll dough into round golf sized balls (or slightly bigger) and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

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A really great fun food dinner is english muffin pizzas. I think these will be a regular lunch food for the kids this year. Make some sauce at the beginning of the week and keep it in the fridge so I can easily whip some up in the morning before school. The kids will love it!

To make them just toast your english muffin, and put them on a baking sheet. Add your sauce, toppings of choice, cheese and then cook it in a 350 oven until the cheese starts to turn brown in places.

For the sauce this is what I do:

1 large can tomato paste

1/8 cup olive oil

3 tbsp pizza spice

pinch of red chilies

dash of sugar

Mix it up, store it in the fridge for up to a week. If you like your sauce thinner, add water. We like ours thick!

**Edited to add - I did not get this done in 15 minutes as I'd hoped. I started this 2 hours ago. Ha!**

The best tofu wraps, ever!

I think today just may have been the longest day, ever! Not that it was a bad day or anything. It was just very, very long. Maybe it felt so long because dinner was so simple and not at all time consuming?

I made some simple, but oh-so-delicious tofu wraps. I found a recipe for some Cashew-Ginger Tofu in my Eat, Drink, Be Vegan cookbook, and then de-veganized it (haha!) by putting them in a tortilla wrap with some old cheddar cheese, grated carrots, sliced baby cucumbers and baby spinach. This was SO GOOD. It was so good, I had two of them! Yum!

Cashew-Ginger Tofu

1/3 cup cashew butter

3 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch chunk of fresh ginger, minced

2 tbsp agave nectar

3/4 cup water

1 block firm tofu, cut into small squares

Mix the cashew butter, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, and agave nectar in a bowl with an immersion blender (or in a food processor/blender) until smooth. Add the water and continue to blend until well mixed.

Pour half of the sauce into an 8x12 baking dish. Add the tofu, and top with remaining marinade. Cover and chill for a couple of hours.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cover the baking dish in aluminum foil, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and cook another 7 minutes until the sauce thickens.

Making the wrap:

Put some cheddar down the middle of a tortilla wrap, and add the tofu. Heat for 20 seconds in the microwave. Add the carrots, cucumbers and spinach (or whatever veggies you have on hand), wrap it up and enjoy!

Scalloped Potatoes!

For dinner tonight I made another of my Mum's recipes. Scalloped potatoes are something I grew up eating a lot of. Irish family loving potatoes? Isn't that a novelty? Ha! With the potatoes I made some curried lentil loaf that I blogged about before, and some sugar snap peas. We ate it super duper quickly due to time constraints, so it's a good thing the kids liked it all! ;)

I just finished making these oatmeal cookies with raisins instead of chocolate chips so that Tiernan could bring a sweet treat to his Oz rehearsal tomorrow. But also so I could have a couple to curb my sweet craving. ;)

***I don't think this recipe has EVER been measured out. It also depends on how much you want to make. When I was taught by my Mum how to make it, I was taught to eyeball it. So, no measurements in this recipe... ***

Scalloped Potatoes

red potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly

onion, finely diced

margarine

flour

dried parsley

paprika

milk

Grease a round casserole dish (or whatever size dish you want) with margarine. Preheat the oven to 350.

Layer some sliced potatoes on the bottom of the dish until it's completely covered, overlapping them a bit. Sprinkle some chopped onion over the potatoes. Next, drop three small dabs of butter on the potatoes in different spots. Sprinkle a little bit of flour over the top.

Continue making the layers until your dish is filled, finishing with potatoes (no onion, butter or flour). Sprinkle the paprika and parsley over the top.

Now, fill the dish about 1/3 of the way with milk.

Cover and cook for about 45 minutes. Remove the lid, and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through and the top is crisping up a bit.

Consider yourself updated! ;)

Coming into the month of August, I knew it was going to be a doozy. What I didn't really realize was just how exhausted it would make me. I feel like I'm constantly on the go! Tiernan is busy with rehearsals, Rhianna is busy with her dance camp, Avery's busy wrapping up his soccer season and delivering papers, I'm busy with cleaning the dance studio, chauffering kids, running errands, and working, Kyle's busy with his work, his contract work and his podcast editing, and on the rare day that we don't have anything we make sure to go out as a family and do something fun, relaxing and memorable. It's not as bad as I'm making it sound since I really enjoy being busy, but I do admit to sleeping in until 10:30am once!

On Sunday we found ourselves with no rehearsals, no work for me, no dance camp, and no papers to deliver. I looked at the calendar and saw this blank white space. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen! We decided to jump in the van and take a drive out to Presqu'ile Provincial Park for a picnic of cheese buns, coleslaw, yogurt and brownies. We found ourselves a picnic table near the lake and settled in. The weather was incredible! There are finally some cooler days this week and that day was gorgeous! The skies were very overcast and the air was warm, but not kill-me-now-hot, and you could hear the roar of thunder throughout the whole time we were there.. There were storms going on all around us, but where we sat at the picnic table there was no rain at all. It was like the rain held out until we were finished eating, exploring the water and lounging. When we finally decided it was time to go, the skies opened up and dumped buckets upon buckets of rain onto our van. I love the sound of the raindrops hitting the metal roof. So beautiful!

After visiting the Park, we headed off to pop in at my parents' house for a surprise visit. Luckily they were at home and we settled in for a while watching home movies from just before and just after Rhianna was born. It was great! This coming Sunday is another blank slate for our family. I can't wait for our family time. I am so blessed with these kids of mine and my loving and supportive husband. No matter where our path takes us, I know we'll be just fine because we'll be together.

♥ My two men. ♥

Dinners have been made for the past week, they just haven't been blogged about. Some of the dinners have been repeats. When I worked all day on Saturday, Kyle was in charge of dinner, so I had planned on him making some vegetarian reubens and a caesar salad using creamy garlic dressing. He did a fantastic job and we all gobbled it up! This is one of those times that I am so thankful that I have this blog - it allows my husband to just look recipes up instead of me trying to find the recipes for him in cookbooks, or my own notebooks. :) Another night we had Make Your Own Grilled Cheese night which was a total hit for our kids! I put out a few different cheeses - old cheddar, mozzarella and smoked cheddar, along with some thinly sliced apples, ketchup (for my ketchup loving daughter!), and then I whipped up some aioli sauce and some pesto sauce. It was a lot of fun! On our free day, the kids treated our whole little family to dinner at Montana's! Aww, they are the sweetest. And it was delicious! In the meantime, here are some of the recipes we had this month so far...

I know it's a terrible picture - I was too lazy to get my flash that night! ;) This is the aioli sauce I made on Make Your Own Grilled Cheese night. Tiernan LOVED this, and couldn't get enough of it.

Aioli Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp lime juice

1 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, and chill for at least 15 minutes.

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For Make Your Own Grilled Cheese night, I also made a quick pesto sauce which we all spread on our bread before grilling them. It was a huge hit since everyone enjoyed the pesto!

Pesto

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup walnuts

2 cloves garlic

1/8 cup parmesan cheese

1/6 cup olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.

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I got this white bean burger recipe from my friend Jill's blog. I altered it very slightly, and although they were good, none of my kids liked them. :/ I may try them again with red kidney beans instead, but we'll see. I served these with our family's favourite potatoes. Here's my version of the burgers.

White Kidney Bean Burgers

3 tbsps butter

2 onions, sliced

1 head of garlic, roasted

2 cans white kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp fresh sage leaves, torn

1 tsp thyme

2 tbsp ground flax seed + 2 tbsp water, mixed into a paste

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

salt and pepper, to taste

juice from 1/2 lemon

Caramelize the sliced onions in the butter for about 30 minutes or more.

Once the onions are cooked, pulse together the onions, garlic, spices, flax paste and half the kidney beans. Mix the bean paste mixture with the rest of the beans in a large bowl. Add the bread, lemon juice and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook on an indoor grill until crispy on the outside and heated through.

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Date Night In food was positively scrumptious! One of the perks of my job is that when it's slow, I can read the books in the store. This means I get to read cookbooks if I want. I come prepared and bring in a notepad to copy down any recipes that catch my attention. This recipe is one of the ones I jotted down at work. :) It's from the book Grazing, and it's a definite keeper! And yes, it's not the exact recipe - did a bit of tweaking.

Cheesy Black Bean Dip

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp canola oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup salsa

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 lime, juiced

1 1/4 cups Tex Mex cheese

Mash the beans until chunky. Heat the oil, and saute the onion for 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic, saute 30 seconds. Add the beans, salsa, cumin and chili. Cook 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in lime juice and cheese and stir until the cheese is melted. Serve warm.

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Last night I made a yummy spaghetti and meatball dinner with some cheddar swirl bread (recipe to follow). Avery, as he sat down at the table, exclaimed, "THANK YOU for making the best meal EVER in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!" Haha, that boy. The sauce was basically the same as this one, with a few changes.

Spaghetti and Meatballs Sauce

4 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

28oz can crushed tomatoes

large can tomato paste

1 cup sherry

4 tbsp chopped, fresh parsley

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried chopped red chilies

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 package frozen veggie "meatballs"

Cook the onion in the oil for about 5 minutes until tender. Add the garlic and parsley and cook another minute. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, the sherry and the spices, salt, pepper and brown sugar. Mix well, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the "meatballs" and cook another 15-20 minutes until the "meatballs" are well heated.

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Smoked Cheddar Swirl Bread

I made a delicious smoked cheddar swirl bread to go with the spaghetti last night. There is nothing quite like fresh bread, let me tell you! If I had time I'd make fresh bread every single day! I used the recipe for Cheddar-Sriracha Swirl bread and followed it to a tee, aside from changing the Sriracha sauce and cheddar for some smoked cheddar. I see many ways I could change this recipe up to have different tastes... mmm mm mmmmm!

Rice and beans make a complete protein!

Tiernan went to his first audition for the Wizard of Oz with the Empire Theatre today. Before we got there this morning he was extremely nervous and a little distraught over not being able to wear his tiger eye necklace. When I left I was unsure how the day would go, but had faith in the lovely people who he was with.. and hoped he'd have a great day. When I went to pick him up afterwards I stood outside in the torturous heat with all the other parents, chit chatting while we waited for our children to come down and tell us about their adventures. When the door opened and I spotted Tiernan I felt a huge wave of relief come over me. He had the hugest grin on his face! He told me all about the other two Lollipop Guild boys, and sang me the songs again. Now he's super pumped to go to the next rehearsal. So exciting!

We had a house full of kids today, and I needed to have dinner ready for 4pm since Rhianna had her first night of dance camp (hooray for my lovely dance moms!), so I spent my afternoon in the kitchen creating while the kids ran around the house. I made a Southwestern Rice Casserole from my friend Jill (altered a bit), a buttered chickpea curry (altered a bit), and some parsnips and carrots in brown sugar and butter. Dessert was a puffed wheat square from How It All Vegan. Yummy!

Butter Chickpea Curry

4 medium potatoes, cubed

2 tbsp canola oil

1 medium onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 tsp curry powder

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1 can condensed tomato soup

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Place the potatoes in a pot, cover with water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low boil and cook until potatoes are tender.

In a wok, saute the onion in canola oil until tender. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the spices and salt and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomato soup, coconut milk, chickpeas and cooked potatoes. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

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Southwestern Rice Casserole

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 red pepper, chopped

4-5 cups cooked rice

1 1/4 cups coconut milk

1 tbsp cumin

1 1/2 tbsp chili powder

1 cup salsa

3 cups shredded Tex Mex cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

In a frying pan, saute the onion in oil. Cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the red pepper and cook until it's tender.

In a bowl stir together all of the ingredients until well blended.

Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Transfer ingredients to the dish. Cover and cook for 40-45 minutes.

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Puffed Wheat Square

1 cup sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups puffed wheat cereal

2 cups chocolate chips

In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and syrup until it's hot and bubbly. Remove from heat and add the peanut butter. Once the peanut butter has melted, add the cereal and chocolate chips. Mix well. Pour into a 9x13 pan and chill for an hour before cutting.